All in all, the night had gone less well than she'd hoped, yet better than she'd expected. By the time she crawled back into the royal tent, she was ready to collapse for a few short hours of sleep, but the gods had other plans.
Cassi's spirit hovered invisibly over the bed.
With a sigh, Lyana stepped quietly around the edge of the room, careful to avoid Xander's slumbering form. Just as every night before, he'd left her the large cot in the corner and stretched out upon the hard floor, forgoing comfort for propriety no matter how many times she told him not to. The bed was big enough to share, but their past loomed larger for him. Or perhaps he really was just that polite. In truth, she couldn't tell.
"I hope you have good news," Lyana muttered as she curled on her side and dropped her head upon the pillow. She couldn't see it, but she could feel a snort riffle through Cassi's spirit, and it brought a smile to her lips as sleep took her.
The dream formed quickly. One moment, she was in the makeshift raven camp on the outskirts of the House of Song, and the next she was back in the crystal palace of Sphaira, overlooking the ivory landscape of her icy homeland. Longing panged deep in her chest, but she stifled it as she turned to her spy.
"Please tell me you have good news.”
Cassi crossed her arms. "Only if your idea of good is an earthquake in the House of Paradise."
Lyana groaned. "No. Definitely not."
"Too bad."
"Tell me anyway."
Cassi launched into the tale, recounting the terror that betook the citizens of Hyadria as their isle trembled beneath them. The damage to the city wasn't severe, but it was an omen of things to come. Now that the earthquakes had started, they'd continue until the House of Paradise fell from the sky.
Lyana asked questions, Cassi supplied answers, and when the topic was exhausted, they moved on to the rest of the isles and the world below, same as they had every meeting before. Turned out the relationship between a queen and her spy was much the same as the one between a princess and her best friend—sarcastic, teasing, and most of all, comfortable. So comfortable, there were moments Lyana could almost forget everything that had happened, everything Cassi had done, as though these translucent walls weren't a dream, but real, and they were two girls back home on some grand adventure.
Then she remembered, and the truth of Cassi's betrayal cut anew, stealing her breath until she had to look away to escape the pain. Forgiveness was a fickle thing, swinging like a pendulum, so close one moment and so very far the next. As a single name spilled from Cassi's lips, a burning ache cleaved Lyana's chest in two, sending all thoughts of reconciliation into the stratosphere.
"I have news of Rafe."
Rafe, whom Cassi had maimed. Rafe, whom Cassi delivered into Malek's fiendish hands. Rafe, who was now his own worst nightmare come to life, all because of the woman standing before her.
Lyana spun and pressed her palm against the crystal wall for balance. Her world swayed as flames danced before her eyes. Deep within the inferno, she imagined his face, and the determination in his vibrant blue eyes pulled her back, freeing her the way he always did.
"Is he all right?"
"I'm worried for him."
"Why?" Lyana swallowed her pain and turned back to Cassi. "What's happened?"
"Malek is closing in. He's had people following them ever since the ship left Karthe, and they can only evade his mages for so long. Eventually they'll run out of supplies. Eventually someone will get hurt. And though it won't be Rafe, I'm not sure what the loss, what the guilt, will do to him."
It would destroy him.
"What can we do?"
"I don't know."
"Where can he go?"
"I don't know."
"Then why—" Lyana froze as an idea sparked like metal to the flint, a bright flame flaring in the deepest dark. "What's the one place Malek would never send his mages? What's the one place he wouldn't dare bring this fight?"
Cassi knitted her brows, her silvery eyes as vacant as the fog. In an instant, they sharpened into blades. "The world above."
"Exactly."
A laugh escaped her spy's lips at the sheer audacity of Lyana's newest plot—to bring a man who was half-dragon to a world entrenched in their fear of the beasts, to bring a ship of mages to a land riddled with a hatred of magic. It was ludicrous. It was absurd.
Cassi grinned. "It's brilliant."
"I know."
"But where—"
"To the raven guest quarters on the outer isle of the House of Peace," Lyana interjected, her thoughts already racing ahead. Meant only as a rest stop for traders and diplomatic convoys, the guest quarters weren’t large enough to house an entire populace, which was why she and Xander had brought the ravens to the House of Song. There was, however, more than enough space for a small crew of mages to reside in. "Malek wouldn't dare bring another magic fight so close to the god stones, especially against a crew of experienced mages, and with trade come to a standstill now that the House of Whispers has fallen, the rooms will be empty. I asked Luka to have the guest quarters for all the houses stocked before he left, just in case, so there should be plenty of food. Rafe will be safe there."
"Assuming he goes along with it."
"Well, yes," Lyana muttered, plummeting back down to earth. "There's that."
To a ship full of wingless mages, escaping to lands floating precariously among the clouds might not be ideal. If they didn't go, Rafe wouldn't either. He was too loyal to leave them to face Malek's wrath alone.
"You'll just have to convince him."
"Right." The hesitant edge to the word made the hairs at the back of Lyana's neck stand on end. Her spy was hiding something. She was hedging.
"Cassi, you have spoken to Rafe, haven't you?"
Silence.
"You spoke to him days ago, right? When I ordered you to go to him immediately and tell him about the shadow beast, and the eggs, and the truth of the god stones. You did as I said, didn’t you?"
The owl opened her mouth, then wordlessly closed it.
"Didn't you?"
"I— I—" Panic drained the color from Cassi's cheeks. She darted her gaze about the room as though searching for any way to delay, and then a molten streak in her irises flared. Cocking her hip to the side, she jutted out her chin in a stubborn look Lyana recognized. "Have you told Xander the truth about Rafe, the way I asked you?"
I tried, sort of… Lyana bristled. "That's different."
"How?"
"Because the fate of the world doesn't depend on my honesty."
"Doesn't it?"
"Cassi!" She growled and flailed her arms in frustration. "That thing could be after him, and he's totally unaware. I'd be far more afraid of that than of Malek's mages. You need to tell him everything. Now. That's an order from your queen."
"Oh, is—"
Before Cassi had time to finish her snappy retort, Lyana snatched her spy's spirit and flung it from her mind. The dream ripped apart and she jolted awake, sucking in a sharp breath as she jerked to a seated position. Her heart thundered, but she ignored the pounding and lifted her face toward the spirit cowering in the shadows.
"Now," she demanded.
Cassi fled and Lyana dropped her head into her palms.
"Now, what?"
"Xander!"
She leapt about five feet in the air at the sound of his voice. If not for her wings, she would have fallen over. As it was, while she righted herself a wind stirred in the tent, rustling their meager supplies. Her king was no longer on the floor, but hunched over his desk, a finger saving his place in the middle of an unrolled scroll. One of his brows lifted.
"What are you doing awake?" she asked, her voice still breathy with shock.
"It's past dawn."
"It is?"
Forgetting Xander, and Cassi, and the dream that wasn't really a dream, Lyana darted across the room to fling open the tent flaps. Peach light chased the darkness away and cast the canvas sea in a rosy
glow, the trees around the meadow silhouetted by the sun. Standing in the grass before her, their feet wet with morning dew and their eyes wary, were three of the mages she'd met what felt like days and not hours before.
A wave of relief washed through her.
They'd come.
Not all, but enough—the beginning of her army.
14
Cassi
Don't be awake, Cassi thought as she cut through the ever-lightening fog, urgency fueling her speed. Please, don't be awake.
Lyana was right. It was time to face Rafe and her guilt, and the brutal truth of what she'd done. He deserved to know whatever information she could provide, especially when she was the one responsible for bringing him into this fight in the first place.
The dark outline of a ship broke through the haze and Cassi dove for The Wanderer, not pausing to hover over her mother's bed or listen to crew gossip, instead oozing through wooden planks into the room she'd been avoiding for days. Rafe slept beneath a mesh blanket, the fire in his wings stifled by the metal, but his spirit still blazed. Harsh lines cut into his brow and sweat dampened his skin. Unintelligible protests spilled from his lips as he thrashed back and forth, wrestling with his nightmares. Before she lost her courage, Cassi pressed a phantom palm to his brow and sank into his dreams.
They were black.
A violent storm of shadow and heat swept her away, pulling her deeper into the vortex. No up. No down. No color. No light. It was ebony chaos. Cassi had never experienced anything like it, as though she were fighting with a demon and not a man for control of his mind. The spirit didn’t feel like Rafe. It was dark and deadly, foreign in a way she couldn't explain. Every time she tried to grab it, the force slithered away like a snake in the night, slipping through her fingers, gone.
Come on, she silently cursed, flailing in the abyss like a bird caught in a winter storm, helpless against the furious winds. Her magic flared. She sank deeper into Rafe's mind, fighting to find the human within the beast. Come on.
All at once, the darkness imploded.
Cassi reeled, digging her power like anchors into any foothold she could find. Color and light burst into dazzling life. The sudden clarity stung her eyes. But she recognized Rafe in this madness and latched on to his spirit. Control came easily. The bedlam calmed. The swirling hues slowed. Cassi warped his thoughts and twisted his dreams into a scene they both recognized—the practice yards outside the raven castle. Same golden dirt. Same blue skies. Same still air. They'd spent many afternoons there sparring beneath the sun, Rafe as her unaware teacher while she'd categorized his every strategy, his every move, saving each morsel of information for the fight when she would need it most. When that horrible day finally came, she'd won the battle, but at the cost of her soul.
Dispelling the memories, Cassi placed her finishing touches on the dream. Rafe appeared across from her, brandishing his twin swords, made not of practice wood but of steel. The wings at his back were raven black, soft and feathered, no longer simmering with flame. But the wild look in his eyes burned. Before she could open her mouth to speak, he charged. She could have raised her weapon. She could have taken to the skies. She could have done any number of things, but she didn’t.
She froze.
Rafe closed the distance. With a yell, he raised his weapon. Time seemed to slow. The metal edge flashed in the sun and a bronze lock of hair swirled before her eyes. The sneer on his lips flattened as the anger drained from his face. But it was too late to stop. In that split second, all either of them could do was watch as the blade sank deep beneath her skin.
With a gasp, Rafe released the hilt and jerked away. Cassi stared at the sword protruding from her chest. Blood soaked through her clothes, spreading like a spilled drink down her stomach, a flowing river of red. She dropped to her knees, woozy and light-headed. The agony stole her breath. Dots spotted her vision. Her body swayed in an invisible breeze.
"Cassi?" Rafe whispered.
The horror in his eyes broke her from the trance. On some level she'd wanted this to be real, and her mind let it be so. But she couldn’t let him dwell in his remorse, no matter how much she welcomed the pain.
"I deserved that," she groaned as she gripped the leather-wrapped hilt and pulled the sword from her chest, rising to her feet. With a thought, the blood vanished and the wound disappeared. She flipped the blade, gripping it by the metal edge as she offered it to him. "And maybe I deserve to die, but unfortunately, I can't die here. Though if it makes you feel better, you can stab me again. This is, after all, your dream."
"I didn't— I wasn't—"
He shook his head, fighting the confusion that so often struck the first time someone experienced her peculiar magic. As he took the sword and slid his twin blades back into the scabbard crisscrossing between his wings, relief flooded his gaze—relief, she assumed, at not becoming a murderer. It was quickly followed by awareness, then anger, then grief as drop by drop his memories fell back into place. A storm gathered in his blue eyes. By the time he returned his attention to her, his guard was fully raised.
"Why are you here?" The words were sharp and demanding.
Because Lyana ordered me to come. Because she finally called me out. Because I only just found the strength to face you after everything I've done.
Cassi swallowed. "Because you're in danger."
Dark laughter escaped his lips. "That's funny, coming from you."
The blow hit harder than the blade he'd just put through her chest.
"I—" Cassi broke off as a knot tightened in her throat. I'm sorry. He wouldn't want to hear it, not after everything he'd been through. "I did what I thought I had to do."
The wings at his back transformed into those of a dragon, drenched in fire, the heat enough to sting her cheeks. His lips curled as he growled, "Get the hell out of my mind."
"I have a message from Lyana."
The fire shrank as his brows furrowed. A moment later, his jaw clenched and the blaze returned. "I don't believe you."
"I'm telling the truth," Cassi implored. "Malek ordered me to kill Xander, but I couldn't do it. I let him capture me, and I confessed. He locked me in the dungeons, and I would have died there when the House of Whispers fell if he and Lyana hadn't come to save my life. I owe them everything, and I've pledged my life and loyalty to their cause. You might not believe me, but all I've ever wanted to do is help save the world. For the longest time, I thought Malek's way was the only way to see that through, but I know better now. Lyana is going to save everyone. I know she will, as long as she stays focused. But if she's distracted, if all her thoughts are set on worrying about you, she'll never seal the rift."
A muscle in his jaw ticked. "Where is she now?"
"In the House of Song with Xander. They've been crowned King and Queen of the House of Whispers, and they're using their positions to try to prepare the isles for what's to come."
Rafe closed his eyes, inhaling a long slow breath as pain cut deep grooves along his brow.
"They're mates in name only," she tried to explain.
His eyelids flew open as his fists clenched. "I don't need comfort from you. You say you have a message from Lyana? Well, what is it?”
"I have two," Cassi said before taking a deep breath to calm the nerves racing across her chest. He was so angry, and he had every right to be, but this was so much worse than facing Lyana, than facing Xander. The worst she'd done to them was lie, but the man before her had been undone by her actions, completely destroyed by them. She deserved another stab wound to the heart. In fact, she welcomed it. "The first she thought I gave you days ago, so please don't blame her for being out of contact. It's my own fault it took me so long to come. I was in the sacred nest the day the House of Whispers fell from the sky and I saw something you won't believe. The god stone didn't fail. It broke open. It was an egg, and the creature inside was unlike any I've seen before, covered in black scales and oozing shadow, as though formed of darkness—"
"I'v
e seen it."
"You've seen it?" She straightened her spine in surprise. "And you lived?"
"I don't think it wants to hurt me," he said slowly, as though trying to process his thoughts while he spoke them. "I think it—I think it tried to help me."
"Tell me everything."
He scoffed at the demand.
Cassi's nostrils flared. "So I can tell Lyana. So we can save the world."
"How do I know you won't go running back to your king?"
"You don't."
The sun beat down harder on the practice fields but neither of them moved. The sky was cloudless, the air thick, as though sensing the unspoken challenge. There was no proof Cassi could provide to show her loyalty. He had to decide what mattered more—his fury or the risk he was taking with Lyana's life, with all their lives, if she were telling the truth and he refused to believe her.
Rafe sighed. His sensitive side won out, and he reluctantly told her of his one night in Karthe and his run-in with Malek's mages. Cassi's jaw dropped open in disbelief as he described the creature who'd slipped from the shadows to snap his attacker's neck, giving him the opening to run.
"And that's not all," Rafe finished softly. "It comes to me at night, in my dreams, and shows me horrible visions."
She sucked in a sharp breath, remembering the impenetrable darkness that had devoured her the second she’d sunk into his mind. "Was it here? Tonight?"
"I had a nightmare, yes." He shrugged. "As to whether it was here, you would know better than me. Did you see it?"
The Dragon and the Queen (The Raven and the Dove Book 3) Page 10